In the midst of Rutgers' recent losing skid, Steve Pikiell did his best not to offer up excuses. But the Scarlet Knights coach conceded the absence of his leading scorer and defensive stalwart had an effect on his struggling squad.

Rutgers got a lift with the return of Omoruyi, who missed the past three games with a dislocated knee cap. The junior forward came off the bench to deliver eight points and six rebounds in 25 minutes of action as the Scarlet Knights rallied for a 76-69 win over Nebraska on Monday night at the RAC in Piscataway.

"I didn’t know Gene was going to be playing today. But it’s nice,'' Pikiell said afterwards. "He’s a veteran guy. You see what he brings on many levels, offense, defense and rebounding. It’s a six-week injury but he rehabbed, and really came up big. It was a great team victory.''

Nebraska (13-6, 3-5 Big Ten) — which was led by James Palmer’s 22 points — appeared to be headed toward an easy victory, leading 31-18 with 4:35 remaining in the first half.

But Rutgers climbed back into it, using a 15-0 run over the next three minutes to take the lead. The Scarlet Knights saw balanced scoring throughout the run, as Mathis scored five, Omoruyi and Ron Harper Jr. each netted three points, and Shaq Carter and Myles Johnson both had a basket.

Nebraska pulled ahead late in the half, scoring the final seven points to go into intermission with a 38-33 advantage. Palmer, a strong Big Ten first-team candidate who came in as the conference’s third-leading scorer at 19.3 points-per-game, gave the Cornhuskers some momentum with a 3-pointer five steps past the halfcourt line at the buzzer.

Nebraska extended its lead to eight points early in the second half, but Geo Baker followed a 3-pointer with a layup off a steal to ignite an 8-0 run that tied it at 43-apiece with 16 minutes to play.

The Cornhuskers controlled the next four minutes, but Baker once again gave the Scarlet Knights a lift with five straight points, including a 3-pointer that gave his team a 50-47 lead with 11:44 to play.

Rutgers used a 7-0 run to build its largest lead — 59-53 with seven minutes to play — but Nebraska evened up the score at 67-apiece with two minutes remaining.

Myles Johnson’s layup with 1:33 left put Rutgers ahead for good, and Peter Kiss followed with a pair of free throws 11 seconds later for a 71-67 advantage. Johnson had eight of the last 14 points for Rutgers, finishing with a career-high points in addition to tallying four assists and two blocked shots.

Rutgers closed the game on an 9-2 run to seal its second win in six games since the start of the new year.

"Rutgers played very hard,'' Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. "Coach Pikiell does a great job. They fight you and they scrap and they made plays.''

The Scarlet Knights return to action Saturday, when they travel to State College, Pa., to face Penn State at 4:30 p.m. The Nittany Lions (7-12, 0-8) are the only winless team in Big Ten play.